关键词：儿童福利系统，预防和早期干预
儿童和妇女问题副部长吉尔·邓洛普（Jill Dunlop）表示，新战略还将致力于解决黑人和土著家庭在儿童救助系统中人数过多的问题。 她说，与原生家庭环境相比，接受照料的儿童和青年人的结果更差，包括低毕业率，无家可归的风险增加以及司法系统的更多干涉。 邓洛普在新闻发布会上说：“儿童福利不应成为人们所惧怕的系统。” “任何人都不应该担心因为与儿童救助协会上交流而失去孩子。没有女人应该害怕去收容所而失去自己的孩子。”
该计划旨在加强社区服务，并强调照料应该在家庭环境中，而不是在合适的集体家庭中。邓洛普（Dunlop）表示，经过改造的系统将为无法留在家庭或社区中的儿童和青少年寻求更多永久性住房，包括更集中的收养程序。她说，该计划是在青年，家庭，原住民，社区组织和一线社工通过咨询协商和在线调查获得意见的基础上制定的。
但是，周三的公告并未包括新的资金投入或立法的变更，也没有为重新设计而设定时间表。邓洛普（Dunlop）表示，这一变化将是“重大”的，并且需要时间。批评人士说，尽管儿童福利制度确实需要改革，政府的公告并未提出这样做的真正计划。 “没有细节，没有真正的资源或金钱，没有时间表，也没有致力于改变有关儿童福利的法律的规定，当土著社区以及需要照顾的儿童和青少年迫切需要一项计划时，福特政府不会处理这些关键问题。”反对派新民主党在一份声明中说。
一些支持者建议，需要对青少年接受护理后的结果进行更多的研究，以了解他们需要什么样的干预和支持。“人们很容易得出寄养产生不良结果的结论;然而，如果不进行干预，青少年的情况可能会更糟，”非盈利的儿童福利政治行动委员会在一份声明中说。“相反，我们认为寄养没能让他们与那些没有经历过寄养的同龄人的生活水平持平。儿童保护部门必须通过成为以证据为基础和有抱负的机构来提高水平。我们相信，如果没有影响衡量，具有最佳意图的创新是无效的。”
该报告由加拿大出版社于2020年7月29日首次发表。
评论：
儿童福利制度对保护处境不利的青少年至关重要。对这个系统的重新设计需要考虑所有这些未解决的问题，并制定一个战略计划来推动它向前发展。它不应该成为竞选的口号或获得更多的投票的借口。我们应继续研究现有的寄养制度是否合适，并投入更多的资金，为儿童创造一个更好的环境。
撰稿：加拿大出版社职员
翻译：王赜涵
编辑：王赜涵
Ontario plans to redesign child welfare system focusing on prevention
Key Words: child welfare system , prevention and early intervention
Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues Jill Dunlop said the new strategy will also work to address the over-representation of Black and Indigenous families in the children’s aid system. She said children and youth in care suffer from worse outcomes than those in original family setting, including lower graduation rates, a higher risk of homelessness and more interference of the justice system. “Child welfare should not be the system that people fear” Dunlop said in a news conference. “No one should worry about losing their children because of having communication with children’s aid society. No woman should be afraid to go to a shelter for fear of losing her children.”
The aim of this plan is to bolster community services and emphasize care in the normal family setting rather than in the appropriate group family setting. Dunlop said the revamped system will seek more permanent homes for children and youth who can’t stay in their families or communities, including a more centralized adoption process. She said the plan was established on the basis of consultations and online surveys from youth, families, First Nations, community organizations and frontline workers.
Wednesday’s announcement, however, did not include new funding or legislative changes. It didn’t set a timeline for the redesign, either. Dunlop said the change would be rather “significant” so that it would take time. Critics said that while the child welfare system definitely needed to be reformed, the government’s announcement didn’t lay out a truly practical plan to do so. “Without details, real resources or money, even timelines or commitment to transform the laws that govern child welfare, the Ford government does not tackle with these critical issues when Indigenous communities and children and youth in care desperately need a plan,” members of the opposition New Democrats said in a statement.
Some advocates suggested more research was needed on outcomes for youth after care . Therefore, they could find out what is the kind of intervention and supports they need. “People may easily draw the conclusion that foster care leads to poor outcomes; however, it is possible that without intervention the condition of youth would be worse,” the not-for-profit Child Welfare Political Action Committee claimed in a statement. “In contrast, we believe that foster care has failed to level up those children’s life outcomes in comparison with peers who have not experienced foster care. The child protection sector must become evidence-based and aspirational to get improved. We believe that if the result of measurement is not be impacted, even innovations with the best intent are noneffective. “
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 29, 2020.
Comment
The Child Welfare system is vital for the protection of youth in disadvantaged circumstances. The redesign of this system needs to take all unsolved issues into consideration and make a strategic plan to move it forward. It should not merely be a slogan for campaign or the excuse for more votes. We should continue the research of whether the current foster system is appropriate. Furthermore, more funding should be put to develop a better environment for children.
Reference(s): https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-plans-to-redesign-child-welfare-system-to-focus-on-prevention-1.5044299
Writer：The Canadian Press Staff
Translator：Zehan Wang
Editor：Zehan Wang
